House Passes $1.1T ‘Cromnibus’ Spending Bill

The bill did finally pass the House of Represenatives last night with votes from Democrats to carry it over the line. However, the next task will be the US Senate where Senator Elizabeth Warren, a potential 2016 presidential candidate, has threatened to hold up the bill over certain provisions regarding banking regulation.

Republicans have muscled a $1.1 trillion bill financing government agencies through the House after President Barack Obama phoned Democratic lawmakers and urged them to back the measure.

The House approved the measure late Thursday by 219-206.

The compromise bill keeps agencies funded through next September.

Many conservatives opposed it because it did not block Obama’s recent executive actions on immigration. A large majority of House Democrats opposed it because of provisions easing some restrictions on banks and allowing higher political contributions by big donors.

Obama backed the bill and called wavering Democratic lawmakers to persuade them to help it pass.

Many conservatives opposed the bill because it does not attack Obama’s immigration executive actions, while liberal Democrats were angry over provisions dealing with campaign spending and financial regulation.

Onward to the Senate where the bill still has yet to win approval from some Democrats lining up behind Elizabeth Warren in opposition. Report from Fox News:

“Who does Congress work for?” Warren said in a speech on the Senate floor Wednesday afternoon. “Does it work for the millionaires, the billionaires, the giant companies with their armies of lobbyists and lawyers, or does it work for all the people?”Warren’s call went further than House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who said Wednesday that she is “deeply troubled” by the banking measure. The Democratic discontent with the measure could make passing the bill more difficult, as House Speaker John Boehner is not expected to have enough votes on his own.

Warren, a popular figure on the left, told Democrats to withhold their support for the funding bill until the Wall Street provisions are removed. Warren, a fierce opponent of Wall Street, is a populist who has supported reforming banks for years.

Clearly the 2016 presidential games have already begun and Warren is taking advantage of this opportunity to garner some press coverage as a champion for progressives. I’m betting the bill will eventually pass the Senate as well and the President has indicated he’ll sign it. Both parties enjoy dropping a cool trillion to fund the government.

This story will be ongoing for several days as debate in the Senate will likely spill into next week.

Nate Ashworth is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of Election Central. He's been blogging elections and politics for almost a decade. He started covering the 2008 Presidential Election which turned into a full-time political blog in 2012 and 2016.

The House’s passage of the Cromnibus bill shows both the Democrats and Republicans are a study in moronity. Only members of Congress are allowed to claim ignorance of the law, especially of a law they voted in place. The pernicious add-ons makes one forget the purpose of the original bill (it will take months to know the total) and they make this bill unacceptable as written.The bill repeals regulations that keeps large banks from speculating in derivatives with taxpayer-guaranteed funds. (Someone forgot the banking collapse derivatives caused in 2007). Sleepy truck drivers will no longer get breaks between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. on consecutive nights while being allowed 70 hour work week (5 days). School menus that provide specific amounts of fruit, vegetables and whole grains is scaled back 50%. Physicans are no required longer to treat a patients who are Gay. The campaign finance provision would empower members of Congress to solicit massive individual donations. It would increase by tenfold the amount of money wealthy individuals can contribute. The pot rider would block the District of Columbia from legalizing marijuana for recreational use. And the clownish list goes on and on.
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Surfisher: I have been thinking about that. The trouble with politics today is that we are nearly all so single-minded. We think we are 100% right, and therefore, the opposition must be, by simple math, 100% wrong.

We should ban the use of the word “compromise,” which is universally seen as a synonym for “surrender.”

Instead, we should start thinking in terms of “NEGOTIATION.” That means the same, but is seen as finding a way to get what you most want, while allowing the other side to get what they most want, and while not budging on those issues, finding a way to avoid letting the minutia stop all progress.

Tess: Everyone seems to agree that it’s a lousy bill. Both sides should have stood their ground and forced a “CLEAN” bill to do temporary funding. OR at least, they should have “sunset” ALL provisions of the bill when the long-term bill is passed. I agree that letting the banks gamble with OUR money in THEIR accounts, for ONLY their gain and our loss is insane.